The following reflects a device which can be quickly deployed from a fashioned storage encasement that is fastened to the deck of a ship, especially a sailing vessel in the event of a overboard mishap.
The device is designed primarily to allow one person to retrieve an unconscious person from the water without having to leave the deck of a boat.
The need to provide a mechanism for retrieving an individual who has fallen overboard or an individual found in the water requiring help and for putting that person on board a vessel has long been known to the sailing community. With this problem in mind comes the need to hoist the individual above the freeboard of a vessel which often times may involve hoisting the individual several feet above the water line.
In the past, it was known to use a tri-sail, such as a genoa sail, to do such a task with sailing vessels. One would release the halyard so that the head of the sail could be dipped into the water and pick up could be made. The individual who was being picked up could be placed within the partially submerged sail and hoisted above board. Problems with this method existed and the method could not be relied on. First, the operation involved use of a sail. The material of a sail did not permit the free flow of water. When the sail was placed in the water for the purpose of catching a person overboard in a net-like manner, the sail could not easily move through the water. Also the handler was forced to move the weight of the water which was being pushed and absorbed by the sail in addition to the weight of the person being hoisted if the capture was even possible.
Additionally, this procedure did not lend itself to quick deployment while the vessel was enroute to the person in need because the sail was usually needed to propel the boat.
The following prior art reflects the state of the art of which applicant is aware and is included herewith to discharge applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose relevant prior art. It is stipulated, however, that none of these references teach singly nor render obvious when considered in any conceivable combination the nexus of the instant invention as disclosed in greater detail hereinafter and as particularly claimed.
PATENT NO.ISSUE DATEINVENTOR4,599,073July 8, 1986Fryer, et al.4,599,074July 8, 1986Beckly5,779,511July 14, 1998Davidson, Jr.
The other prior art listed above but not specifically described teach other devices for man overboard retrieval and further catalog the prior art of which the applicant is aware. These references diverge even more starkly from the references specifically distinguished above.